Breakdown of Gisteren is het vliegtuig vertrokken.
zijn
to be
vertrekken
to leave / to depart
gisteren
yesterday
het vliegtuig
the airplane
Questions & Answers about Gisteren is het vliegtuig vertrokken.
Why do we use is here instead of heeft for the past tense?
In Dutch, verbs that describe a clear change of location or state use zijn (to be) as their helping verb instead of hebben (to have). Because the airplane changed its location by leaving, we use is.
Why is the word order is het vliegtuig instead of het vliegtuig is?
This is because the sentence starts with the time word Gisteren (yesterday). In Dutch, the main helping verb must always be the second idea in the sentence. To keep is in the second position, the subject het vliegtuig swaps places with it.
Why is vertrokken placed at the very end of the sentence?
When using a two-part tense like the present perfect, the helping verb (is) takes the normal second-position spot, and the past participle (vertrokken) is always pushed to the very end of the sentence.
What is the dictionary form of the verb vertrokken?
It comes from the verb vertrekken, which means to leave or depart. It is an irregular verb, which is why the vowels change from 'e' to 'o' when making the past participle.